Hotel House

Coordinates: 43°25′0.09″N 13°39′54.3″E / 43.4166917°N 13.665083°E / 43.4166917; 13.665083
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Hotel House
Map
General information
TypeApartment building
Location43°25′00.09″N 13°39′54.3″E
AddressVia Salvo D'Acquisto 8
Town or cityPorto Recanati, Marche
CountryItaly
Coordinates43°25′0.09″N 13°39′54.3″E / 43.4166917°N 13.665083°E / 43.4166917; 13.665083
Completed1968
Technical details
Floor count17
Lifts/elevators8, plus 2 freight elevators (unused)

Hotel House is an apartment building in Porto Recanati, Italy, about 25 km from the regional capital Ancona. The building houses around 2,000 people (roughly 20% of the town's population) in 480 units.[1]

The building is diverse and swells[clarification needed] significantly in size during the summer months; 90% of inhabitants are foreign, representing 40 different nationalities.[1][2] 21.9% of Porto Recanati's population is foreign-born, the highest percentage in the region of Marche and among the highest in Italy.[3]

The building has a gritty reputation and is notorious locally as a magnet for crime and narcotics.[4] In April 2018, police discovered human remains in a well near Hotel House during a drug investigation.[5][6] The remains were found to belong to a teenager who disappeared in 2010; forensic evidence led authorities to her alleged boyfriend, a foreign-born Hotel House resident, but despite an investigation no charges were laid and the suspect's whereabouts are now unknown.[6]

History[edit]

The building was constructed during a historic building boom, on what was then the outskirts of Porto Recanati, intended as tourist accommodations; however, as economic conditions changed, apartments were occupied by low-income workers and families, mostly of foreign origin.[7][8] As the area declined, services crumbled due to non-payment of utility bills, causing sanitation issues severe enough to trigger an investigation by the European Parliament.[9] Open drug dealing, controlled first by the Camorra and later by foreign gangs, exacerbated the area's social problems.[2]

The building has been labeled an eyesore due to its decrepitude and visual impact on the area's coastal scenery.[10] In April 2014, the outgoing mayor of Porto Recanati, Rosalba Ubaldi, proposed demolishing Hotel House and constructing new housing in its place.[11] In 2017, the regional government approved a resolution asking for funds from the state budget for redevelopment of the area.[12] Politicians Matteo Salvini and Alessandra Mussolini have each visited Hotel House and endorsed its demolition and redevelopment.[13][14][15]

The building's social conditions have been the subject of academic studies, publications and documentary films.[16][17][18][19][20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Interrogazione scritta - Il caso dell'Hotel House - P-3491/2009" (in Italian). European Parliament. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b Oliva, Ruben (18 November 2010). "Il palazzo con tutti i popoli del mondo". il Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Immigrazione, Porto Recanati è il terzo Comune d'Italia con più stranieri residenti". Il Messaggero.it (in Italian). 12 September 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  4. ^ Caporaletti, Alessandro (30 January 2017). "Hotel House, tra paura e degrado non funziona più nulla". il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  5. ^ Giannaccini, Giorgio (3 April 2018). "Ossa umane a Porto Recanati, si scava ancora. "Hotel House, collegamento da provare"". il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  6. ^ a b Jones, Tobias (31 July 2018). "An unsolved murder at Italy's most notorious tower block". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Porto Recanati: cartellone pubblicitario del Hotel House, grattacielo di prossima costruzione sulla costa adriatica". Archivio Antonio Cederna (in Italian). 21 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Porto Recanati, capitale degli immigrati". il Corriere della sera (in Italian). 6 October 2009. p. 13. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Debiti con l'Enel, l'Hotel House rischia di "spegnersi"". Cronache Maceratesi (in Italian). 5 February 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  10. ^ Loredana Ciarrocchi (24 April 2012). "Primo appuntamento con i "Luoghi da rivivere"". Riviera Oggi (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  11. ^ Emanuela Addario (21 November 2014). "Porto Recanati, la Ubaldi: "Demoliamo l'Hotel House"". il Resto del Carlino (in Italian).
  12. ^ "Hotel House, il consiglio approva la deliberazione da inviare alle Camere". AnconaToday (in Italian). 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Macerata, sopralluogo di Salvini nel grattacielo multietnico Hotel House: "Da sistemare o da abbattere"". Tgcom24. 16 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Salvini in visita al multietnico Hotel House: "Qui servono le ruspe"". La Repubblica. 16 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Mussolini visita Hotel House - Marche". ANSA.it (in Italian). 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  16. ^ M. Letizia Zanier; Natascia Mattucci; Claudia Santoni (2011). EUM (ed.). Luoghi di inclusione, luoghi di esclusione. Realtà e prospettive dell'hotel House di Porto Recanati. ISBN 9788860562951. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Paesaggio umano: il mondo in un palazzo". forum paesaggio marche. 23 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  18. ^ Adriano Cancellieri (2013). professionaldreamers (ed.). Hotel House. Etnografia di un condominio multietnico. ISBN 978-88-908130-0-9. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  19. ^ Giorgio Cingolani (2007). Affinità Elettive (ed.). "La retorica dell'esclusione. Informazione e rappresentazione degli immigrati attraverso i media: il caso Hotel House". Vol. in C. Gaetani, G. Capriotti (a cura di), “Quei loro incontri. Lezioni settempedane”.
  20. ^ A. Fermani; G. Cingolani (2013). Gli adolescenti di un palazzo multietnico. Il caso dell'Hotel House. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)